Chapter Six

The leaves swayed in the trees, rustling softly as the breeze blew into them, down below in a grassy clearing, two Rockets admired the pokemon they had stolen. The animals growled and clawed uselessly at the steel cage they were trapped in. Team Rocket laughed.
"I think that was the best steal we ever managed to get away with!" Cried a woman with short spiky green hair, and two long strands framing her face.
The other grinned gleefully, "Sixteen pokemon altogether, we could be promoted! Or given a raise!" He was male, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, a lately broken nose bent crookedly on his attractive face, a little gift from their recent heist, "At least we better get one," he muttered, touching his sore broken nose lightly, "That city boy..." He grunted in frustration, and looked accusingly at Ophelia, "Why wouldn't you let me finish him off, he deserved! Look what he did to me!"
The woman rolled her eyes, "Oh come on now, don't be such a baby, he's got such a nice face, I didn't want to see it ruined, his eyes were simply fascinating."
The man glared at her, "I had a nice face-"
"Until you got it bashed in by 'that city boy', clumsy fool, really, you should be more careful." Ophelia cut in, "Besides, think of all the money we'd earn when we get promoted! Then you can have any nose you want!"
The two stared at each other, as both imagined gold and riches coming their way, then giggling excitedly, they did a little dance around the cage.
They had been following a pair of trainers for a while, attracted to the amount of pokemon they had between them. A short while after the two trainers had entered the gym, the thieves had attacked them (having a little trouble with the boy). Knocking them out and then tying them to a tree in the woods behind the Violet City Gym. They had also taken down a gym trainer as well. They knew it had been a foolish move to attack inside the actual gym, but they had been sure that no one was watching, besides, they were desperate, they had been having an endless round of bad luck for the past couple of days, and no points had been added to their tally score, but at least it wasn't as bad as the two hopeless Rockets, Jessie and James, those bungling fools were at the bottom of the list with none at all. "The boss is going to be so pleased!" Ophelia gushed as she poked at a Cyndaquil grumbling at the bottom of the cage.
"Cynda! Cynda cynnnn quilll!"
The Rocket yelped back in surprise as the wretched pokemon spat flames into her face. Surprise quickly turned to anger as she glared at it with raw hatred, "You filthy little thing! One inch closer and you would have been HISTORY!!"
Lustra snorted, and said smugly, "Cynn, cynda," The other pokemon chuckled nervously, glancing at each other, they knew they were in deep trouble if they didn't get help fast, because neither of them wanted to be a Team Rocket pokemon. But they were helpless, if any of them so much as touched the two Rockets, Orpheus, the blonde Rocket, had threatened to activate the switch on the little remote control he carried, and the electric generator, attached to the steel cage would fry them all, they definitely didn't want that to happen, so all they could do was wait, and pray...
She woke up half dazed, a splitting headache made her wonder if she had been hit on the head my an onix. No, she chided herself, they weren't found in the Violet area.
Then what had happened? She struggled to open her tired eyes, her vision was blurry at first, but gradually it cleared, she found herself surrounded by trees, beedrils buzzed somewhere nearby, and she could hear the song of a pidgeotto. She was in a forest, how she had she had gotten there was a mystery, the last thing she remembered was shrugging, then following Katiral to the elevator in the Violet City Gym, everything was blank after that. Topaz struggled up, but something tight and painful held her and simply wouldn't budge, she found that she couldn't move her arms or chest. Looking down, she realized she was tied against the base of a giant tree by two thick ropes. She felt something leaning heavily against her left shoulder, dripping a warm slimy substance onto her arm, turning her head she recognized the sleeping face of Adam. His hair was messy and tickled her neck, the sunglasses he always wore had slid off his nose. Mouth slightly open, the city-boy snored softly.
Like a pig. She thought drily.
Saliva dribbled down his chin, dropped off, and slowly crawled down her arm...
The warm slimy substance.
"AAAAAHHHH!!!!!" The gym trainer struggled frantically against the ropes. "Oh YUCK!!! Somebody! HELP ME!!!"
But no one was around, banging the back of her head against the tree's trunk in frustration, she looked imploringly up at the sky, "Why me?"
Glancing back at the sleeping, drooling, trainer, she grumbled miserably, her face twisted in an expression of utter despair, "Gross."
Mom? Is that you? MOM! Please wait! Don't leave me, not again, you're all I have left! Please! Katiral struggled after the figure of a thin woman dressed in a blue sequined dress. The figure walked farther away from the trainer, and, try as she might, the small girl couldn't make herself walk after her, she was somehow stuck in one spot. Please! Katiral whimpered, Come back. The figure kept on going, into the thickening fog, leaving behind her only daughter, and legacy. As the figure was half engulfed by the white mist, she stopped, turned her head back and smiled, her deep blue eyes shining, she spoke three soft words that whispered through the air, like a cool summer's breeze, "I love you,". Then she disappeared.
"AAAAAHHHH!!!!!"Katiral's eyes snapped open, and quickly looked frantically around her, she just as quickly immediately wished she hadn't. Pain exploded in her brain, as if someone was pounding against the inside of her head with a very large hammer. Her almond black eyes glazed over, and she looked curiously at little white dots which appeared in her vision.
"Oh YUCK!!! Somebody! HELP ME!!!"
Katiral looked round, but saw no one. Although the voice sounded extremely close. She struggled to get up, but found she couldn't budge. Looking down, she discovered she was tied at the base of a tree by two taught ropes.
"Why me?" The voice asked.
Ignoring the painful throbbing, she shifted her head right and saw that the ropes wrapping around the tree was not touching the trunk at all.
"Gross."
Someone was tied up by the same rope on the other side of the trunk.
"Hello?" Katiral called weakly, as she began to feel woozy once again.
"Katiral? Is that you?" The frantic voice cried, now relieved.
The martial artist recognized it as Topaz's, the feisty gym trainer from Violet City, "Yeah, It's me. What happened?"
"I wouldn't have the faintest idea. One minute I was in the gym, the next I find myself here with Droolboy releasing his saliva onto my shoulder,"
"Droolboy?" Katiral queried.
"Never mind,"
She shrugged, trying to think of a way to get out of this god forsaken predicament. So far she came up with nothing. She dropped her head in despair, and suddenly realized her pokeballs were missing from her belt. She called out to Topaz, "My Pokemon, they're gone!"
A moments pause, "Hey! Mine too!"
One and two clicked together, "Do you think we were robbed?"
"Most certainly," Katiral answered glumly.
"I"LL KILL THEM!!! Whoever did this, I'm gonna bloody KILL you!" Topaz's voice exploded in rage. The martial artist winced at the noise, which echoed through the forest.
"Kill Who?" inquired a new throaty female voice.
Then a male's mocking one, "You don't mean us, do you?"
Stepping from the trees at Katiral's right, a man and a woman grinned wickedly at them, back to back, arms folded, they wore uniforms of white, a pink 'R' was etched onto their shirts.
"Who are you?" Snapped Topaz.
The woman laughed, her hair was short and green, but two long strands framed her face, "Oh, can't you tell?" Her brown eyes looked cruelly at them.
The man faked a shocked expression, "We're hurt, we really are," He had long blonde hair and cold blue eyes, a crooked nose marred his handsome face, he performed an extravagant bow, "Introducing, Orpheus and Ophelia....at your service,"
Katiral heard Topaz hiss in realization, "Give me back my pokemon you Team Rocket MORONS!"
They simply laughed, although the martial artist could see the man's expression harden.
"You want your pokemon?" He snickered, "Come get them,"
He stepped aside, revealing a large square object covered in a black velvet cloth.
"Behold!" Cried the green haired woman, whipping off the soft material.
Topaz and Katiral gasped simultaneously, beside the brunette, the sleeping Adam just grunted.
Idiot, the gym trainer thought briefly, struggling with her ropes in frustration.
The square object was a steel cave, and trapped inside, pleading their master's to get them out, were their pokemon.
"Don't worry my friends," Topaz pledged under her breathe, "We'll free you,"
Somehow.